In Premier A of the Grant Matthewson Norwich & District Table Tennis League, the best performance of the week was probably from Gothic B’s Chris Durrant, who had singles wins over third-placed CEYMS A’s Russell King, Mats Olsson and Ben Thompson, thereby easing relegation fears a little.

Divisional runners-up Wensum B were made to fight very hard in a keenly contested draw over Foxwood A. Neil Charles again took all his singles for Wensum B but Jon Cockburn showed some good form for Foxwood A with a brace which included a straight set victory over new Norwich champion Kit Lo.

Wensum E moved up to sixth with two wins, over Wensum C by 6-4 and a 8-2 victory over CEYMS B, Sean Molloy taking all his singles in both matches. Chris Jones played well against CEYMS B with a brace which included a fine win over Alan Clitheroe. Wensum A secured the Premier A title after a 9-1 win over Foxwood A who won the doubles. Premier B leaders UEA B, without Long Zhang, suffered a blow to their title hopes with a rare 3-7 loss to Panthers, for whom Peter Mathieson recorded a fine maximum. Hellesdon keep a grip on third place with a Dan Gigli inspired 8-2 win against Taverham B.

In the fight against relegation, Firstline Factors had a superb 8-2 win over Foxwood B, slightly marred by the retirement of Foxwood’s Trevor Cockburn with a back injury. Strugglers Taverham A lost 4-6 to Wensum F who had Jordan Gabriel and Alex Harley in good form. Wensum G picked up a draw against Gothic C when Stephen Harsley and Martyn Clarke both won a brace for Wensum.

Foxwood’ s C and D teams now head the Division One championship as the final games of this season approach. An impressive maximum from Ian Layt and two from both Andrew Leeds and Stuart Cooper gave Foxwood D an 8-2 win over Wensum H. Holly Stubbings imprressed for Wensum with wins over Leeds and Cooper. Against Taverham C, after losing the first 3 games, things looked bleak for Missionaries, but they finally pulled together to win 6-4, six games going to five sets. A brace for Richard Westgate and Andy Watson, plus a great win for Mary Sawyer over Rod Edwards at a vital point in the match. Missionaries secured the win with the doubles. A strong Foxwood C performance saw off SFC B 7-3. A rare defeat for Ian Taylor to Darren Butcher, and a win for Steve Johnson plus the doubles earned SFC a hard earned point. Dennis Calver made a guest appearance for Taverham C against CEYMS E, Jack Harrowing and Jamie Leeder winning the doubles again to earn a well deserved draw.

A topsy turvey week in Division Two saw some surprising results. Ex Choristers must have put paid to Wensum I’s chances of the title, beating them 6-4 in a good team effort. CEYMS F beat fellow promotion contenders UEA C 7-3 but needed all four points not the three points gained to keep them in the running for the title